Island in Between (2023) Movie Script
1
Growing up in Taiwan, I
heard a lot about Kinmen.
Like most Taiwanese,
I had never been to these
islands so close to China.
Until I came with my
parents a couple years ago.
I knew that Kinmen had
been the frontline for Taiwan
during the Chinese Civil War,
but it was still a
shock to see that China
is literally right there.
I sang this song
all the time as a kid.
We were taught that we,
Taiwanese, were Chinese in exile
and one day with
help from the US,
we would retake China,
freeing the mainland
from the evil Communists.
And Kinmen would
be the launching pad.
About 100 miles across
open water from Taiwan,
Kinmen is surrounded on
three sides by the mainland
and has frequently been
shelled by red artillery.
Kinmen is in effect the cork
in the Communist invasion bottle
performing much
the same role for Asia,
as does Berlin in Europe.
This was my dad in 1968.
When he drew Kinmen for
his mandatory military service,
my grandmother cried.
She was afraid that he
might not make it back alive.
As I got older,
politicians on TV
stopped trying to convince us
to take back China at all costs.
But the folks in Kinmen were
still expected to defend Taiwan,
even though they
have family and history
just on the other
side of the divide.
As for my family, like most
ethnic Chinese in Taiwan,
we've been here for generations
and have no
connections to China.
Instead, my father
dreamt of going to the US,
which is where I have
spent most of my adult life
until I moved back to
Taipei a few years ago.
After so many years away,
I'm still figuring out
my own relationship
to Taiwan and China.
Kinmen connects Taiwan to China,
but also keeps them apart.
Maybe that's why I'm
drawn to this place.
I want to make sense of it.
Growing up, this
channel of water
was the edge of our universe,
separating good from evil.
Then one day, we
were suddenly allowed
to cross to the other side.
And all it took was
a half hour ferry ride.
On my very first trip to China,
I used my Taiwanese
Compatriot Permit.
It's basically a
separate passport
issued by the
Chinese government,
the same government
that considers
my Taiwanese passport illegal.
But when I began
working in China,
it was actually easier to travel
with my American passport.
The China I saw was
not the sad and scary
communist wasteland that
I learned about in school.
It was an exhilarating place,
bursting with colors
and possibilities.
I wanted to be a part of it
with whichever
passport I needed to use.
I was last in China in 2018.
I had a hard time
getting a film I made
to pass through the censors
so we could show it there.
Then China's crackdown
on Hong Kong happened
and the pandemic
shut down everything,
including the
Kinmen ferry in 2020.
I'm not sure I'll go to
China again anytime soon.
When Covid broke out,
I moved back to Taipei
after several decades in the US.
There you go.
I've spent more time with my
parents in the last three years
than in the past
30 years combined.
This place is feeling
like home again.
Though I can't help but
wonder how long this will last.
I have split the last
15 years in my life
going between Taiwan,
China, and the US.
More and more, I feel
like a kid whose parents
are involved in a
three-way custody battle.
Hostile, codependent,
manipulative,
each pair with their
own dysfunctions.
They all think they
know what's best for me.
They don't care what I want.
Many in Kinmen think that China
will never attack Taiwan and
the US should stop interfering.
"We'll be reunified
peacefully", they said,
"because after all,
we're all one big family."
At dinner recently, my
mother casually reminded me
that I should have a
plan if China invades,
but they intend
to stay in Taiwan.
"We're gonna be too
old to leave", she told me.
Starting in 2024,
Taiwanese compulsory
military service
will be extended to one
year for all eligible men.
When these young
men arrive in Kinmen,
would they be surprised like
I am by the peaceful sunsets,
the same ones that my
father must have seen
when he served here
all those years ago.
And by the kindness
of the people here
who are forever
caught in between.
Growing up in Taiwan, I
heard a lot about Kinmen.
Like most Taiwanese,
I had never been to these
islands so close to China.
Until I came with my
parents a couple years ago.
I knew that Kinmen had
been the frontline for Taiwan
during the Chinese Civil War,
but it was still a
shock to see that China
is literally right there.
I sang this song
all the time as a kid.
We were taught that we,
Taiwanese, were Chinese in exile
and one day with
help from the US,
we would retake China,
freeing the mainland
from the evil Communists.
And Kinmen would
be the launching pad.
About 100 miles across
open water from Taiwan,
Kinmen is surrounded on
three sides by the mainland
and has frequently been
shelled by red artillery.
Kinmen is in effect the cork
in the Communist invasion bottle
performing much
the same role for Asia,
as does Berlin in Europe.
This was my dad in 1968.
When he drew Kinmen for
his mandatory military service,
my grandmother cried.
She was afraid that he
might not make it back alive.
As I got older,
politicians on TV
stopped trying to convince us
to take back China at all costs.
But the folks in Kinmen were
still expected to defend Taiwan,
even though they
have family and history
just on the other
side of the divide.
As for my family, like most
ethnic Chinese in Taiwan,
we've been here for generations
and have no
connections to China.
Instead, my father
dreamt of going to the US,
which is where I have
spent most of my adult life
until I moved back to
Taipei a few years ago.
After so many years away,
I'm still figuring out
my own relationship
to Taiwan and China.
Kinmen connects Taiwan to China,
but also keeps them apart.
Maybe that's why I'm
drawn to this place.
I want to make sense of it.
Growing up, this
channel of water
was the edge of our universe,
separating good from evil.
Then one day, we
were suddenly allowed
to cross to the other side.
And all it took was
a half hour ferry ride.
On my very first trip to China,
I used my Taiwanese
Compatriot Permit.
It's basically a
separate passport
issued by the
Chinese government,
the same government
that considers
my Taiwanese passport illegal.
But when I began
working in China,
it was actually easier to travel
with my American passport.
The China I saw was
not the sad and scary
communist wasteland that
I learned about in school.
It was an exhilarating place,
bursting with colors
and possibilities.
I wanted to be a part of it
with whichever
passport I needed to use.
I was last in China in 2018.
I had a hard time
getting a film I made
to pass through the censors
so we could show it there.
Then China's crackdown
on Hong Kong happened
and the pandemic
shut down everything,
including the
Kinmen ferry in 2020.
I'm not sure I'll go to
China again anytime soon.
When Covid broke out,
I moved back to Taipei
after several decades in the US.
There you go.
I've spent more time with my
parents in the last three years
than in the past
30 years combined.
This place is feeling
like home again.
Though I can't help but
wonder how long this will last.
I have split the last
15 years in my life
going between Taiwan,
China, and the US.
More and more, I feel
like a kid whose parents
are involved in a
three-way custody battle.
Hostile, codependent,
manipulative,
each pair with their
own dysfunctions.
They all think they
know what's best for me.
They don't care what I want.
Many in Kinmen think that China
will never attack Taiwan and
the US should stop interfering.
"We'll be reunified
peacefully", they said,
"because after all,
we're all one big family."
At dinner recently, my
mother casually reminded me
that I should have a
plan if China invades,
but they intend
to stay in Taiwan.
"We're gonna be too
old to leave", she told me.
Starting in 2024,
Taiwanese compulsory
military service
will be extended to one
year for all eligible men.
When these young
men arrive in Kinmen,
would they be surprised like
I am by the peaceful sunsets,
the same ones that my
father must have seen
when he served here
all those years ago.
And by the kindness
of the people here
who are forever
caught in between.